From author perspectives really hard to go wrong with Gail Simone written stuff. I am also a big fan of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey's work. Fables is a really solid series too when I stopped reading it, the end of the main myth arc. Stay away from The Walking Dead, that shit gets stupid.

We live in a society where people born on third base constantly try to steal second, yet we expect people born with two strikes against them to hit a homerun on the first pitch.

So I've been reading Giovanni Boccaccio's 'Decameron'. (A Penguin translation I picked up at the Kalamazoo Medieval Congress for a song)

For those who don't know: this is basically up there with Dante's Divine Comedy as far as influential works of Italian Literature. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are likely influenced by it, and in its day and after it was translated into essentially every western and central European language, and is a neat cultural icon.

If I were to summarize it, in plain modern language, it's about a bunch of rich 20-somethings (3 men and 7 women) who go on vacation in the countryside to escape the plague in Florence, and to pass the time they tell stories over 10 days. Often involving crazy sex, or other lewd topics, with a fair dose of anti-clericism, and other harsh criticisms.

It is a huge read, but a fun one none the less. It also includes some fantastic euphemisms. The particular translation I read has a nice set of end notes discussing the translations of the metaphors, as well as how some omissions earlier translations made for 'decency'.

I do wish I could have read it in Italian though... I know I'm missing a lot of the 'poetry'.

Smashwords.com is the literary equivalent to a heroin dealer: "The first book is free!"

I used to have a Nook. I loved the hell out of it for the 2 weeks I kept it before returning it. In that 2 weeks, I racked up $600 worth of ebook purchases. So I limit myself to paper copies and the "free books" section of iTunes and the Baen free library.

That said, I've made a few purchases recently, thanks to Smashwords, that I can recommend wholeheartedly to sci-fi/fantasy fans:

The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids (free via smashwords.com or iTunes or wherever you get your ebooks) by Michael McClung: Reminds me a lot of Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser. Pretty amazing fantasy novel written from the viewpoint of a thief with a grudge that gets caught up in something way bigger than she could possibly have imagined. Excellent twist to the plot too - I can't recommend this one highly enough.

The Thief Who Spat In Luck's Good Eye (not free): I can't recommend this one quite as highly as the original, but the quality of writing makes up for the somewhat hackneyed plot. I think the author lost something somewhere between writing the original novel and the followup. I'm pretty sure though, that he's painted himself into a corner so this will only end up being a duology; at least, I HOPE it stays as a duology.

For the military space opera fans, there are three trilogies by an amazing author that I'd never heard of before, Michael R. Hicks - all of which are set in the same universe. I'd recommend picking them up in timeline order rather than in publishing order, so I'm listing it that way here:

First Contact: Absolutely astounding. I've sat here for a solid 15 minutes trying to come up with a review/recommendation for this, but all I can say is, it's free. Get it and read it. It's definitely worth the time.Legend of the Sword: Not free, but it's the second book in the trilogy.Dead Soul: Again, not free, but you can't go wrong

Empire: This was the first book he wrote in the series by publishing order, but think of it as Star Wars Episode IV. This one's free wherever ebooks are sold, so you've got nothing to lose picking it up. This trilogy definitely has a different "feel" to it from the Last War trilogy (this one is the Redemption trilogy) but his characters are as strong and complex in his earlier works as they are in later works. Characters drive space opera, and I've fallen in love with all of the characters he's written.Confederation: Book 2 of the Redemption trilogyFinal Battle: Last book of the Redemption trilogy

There's also a prequel trilogy about the founding of the empire that, while different, is well worth the read:From Chaos Born: Damn you smashwords! You publish the first novel of trilogies free, IT'S LIKE YOU'RE A CRACK DEALER OR SOMETHING. Hicks's ability to write compelling, complex characters is awe-inspiring.Forged In Flame: Book 2 of the First Empress trilogyMistress of the Ages: Book 3 of the First Empress trilogy, but only available in hardcopy so far. It should be in ebook form soon.

- I'm not Jesus, but I can turn water into Kool-Aid.- A Sergeant in motion outranks an officer who doesn't know what the hell is going on.- A demolitions specialist at a flat run outranks everybody.

I recently made a wonderful discovery. If you have any kindle books, whether on an actual kindle device, or smartphone/tablet, you can often buy an audiobook "upgrade" through audible for a fraction (like, 10-20% of cost) of the price of the audiobook. And these audiobooks sync with the ebook so that you can pick up where you left off.

I'm still not absolutely crazy about audiobooks, and much prefer reading, but it's nice to be able to listen while commuting or doing chores around the house, and then pick up where you left off when you're able to spend some time relaxing in an armchair.

I just got through reading Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson and really enjoyed it. A very different twist from most of his books. I'm not sure it's direction as a series, but as a standalone, it was really good.